Hermann likes to think of himself as a Distinguished Gay.
As such he has pursued a cursory understanding of gay history. Not out of an especial interest, but rather out of a sense of obligation. His knowledge of (let’s be real, cis white male) gay history – while not encyclopedic- is a point of quiet, personal pride.
What I’m trying to say is this: it’s no mistake that his fashion sense is modeled after Alan Turing.
more details can be found on the blog! I’m very glad that the reception for it has been so overwhelmingly positive! The kickstarter was more than fully funded.
Here is a small compliation of the process pics I took throughout drawing for it!
Ah, so all we really know about Lars from canon is that he’s quite strict and didn’t want Hermann to basically live his dreams/disagreed with him over jobs and such which, unless I’m missing other things is definitely enough to work with bc
A. From the little we know on the wiki pages/novels he sounds like super strict AF
B. Disagreeing w/ your kid on a job sort of thing that they’re so so SO passionate about esp. when they’re like in-canon growing up bullied and lonely is a Bad Sign. It’s just Super Bad; that tells us unsupportive and lots of fighting and lots of disagreeing.
C. Also ‘dad not liking his son’s job choice is,’ in media, usually is just the thinly veiled code for ‘a disapproval of his lifestyle in general’ and it’s not hard to see Hermann who’s quiet/introverted and nerdy and super smart (but also hella socially awkward and gay and weak/disabled) to be the epitome of this in his fathers eyes, esp. since he like builds the Jaeger program for all these super Fit and Masculine dudes and his son turns out to be the budding mad professor of the millenials generation ala Alan Turring.
D. It’s coded in the way Hermann acts around other men. Esp. presuming he’s gay and there’s signs of domestic abuse there from his dad. Hermann doesn’t go near other men, let alone other people really. Who touches Hermann in the entire film? Newt. And even then Hermann looks absolutely clueless when it comes to physical contact with him. Comfortable but still…startled. And that’s it pretty much. Maybe a light tap on the shoulder from Tendo??? Throughout the film Hermann is very isolated physically and seems to put as much distance between him and other people as possible (how he works, his clothes, his demeanor) and those are all signs so.
E. Oh yeah! and one more I forgot (which is ironic bc it’s what probably drew my attention to it in the first place) was when Stacker yells at him and Newt. He’s very passionately arguing and then Stacker tells him to shut up and Newt sure as hell wouldn’t in that position (and also Newt, by jux. is legit in other ppl, esp. dudes personal spaces, like even Hannibal, god bless the boy, but I digress.) Nor did I think Hermann would bc he’s really fighting for that research, HIS research which means more to him than anything BUT-take a look, the way he sets his jaw back he looks absolutely crushed to the point where like I know he’s into his numbers but had it just been about that he would have fought right back, in fact, I’m sure he would have fought even harder. Instead, it was like some weird knee jerk trauma reaction-you see someone bigger and with more authority than you start to yell (regardless of whether they’re actually a bad person or not bc Stacker is DEFINITELY not,) esp. if it’s a dude and you just set your jaw back like Hermann did and try not to cry as you recount said physical trauma coupled with all the years of Lars being like ‘you’re a failure Hermann/you’re never going to make it’ or something like that and whatever went down w/ him wanting to be an astronaut/eventually going in Wicked Breach Theory Kaiju Math.
F. This is probably not valid and projections and blah blah blah but it’s just some HC’s bc I truly don’t believe even half of Hermann’s closed off demeanor and orneriness is his fault and really is a product of his dad being a giant douche and being bullied at school. The other half is him having Asperger’s/being a hardcore introvert .
Anyways, thanks for the asks!!! Bleh, sorry this a bit late, hope your week is going well!
we all talk about newt going into therapy after he’s recovered from the precursors effects but i don’t think i’ve seen anyone mention hermann going into therapy during those ten long years where he felt unwanted by everyone, and had to mentally deal with the fact that the one person that made him feel not so alone was the one isolating him; though the therapy doesn’t help much, and he still feels a gaping hole in his heart that belongs to newt, being able to vent to someone is slightly healing for him and what gets him through the rough patches of those years
Avelera 